Wheel.



' WITNES S E E. G. SMURTAUGH.

I JWHEBL. APPLI'G'ATIGN FILED JAN. 10, 1908.

954,124, I Patented Apr. 5, 1910.

EDWARD G. MUB'IAUGF. 0F GREENWOOD, SOUTH DAKOTA.

WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 5, 1910.

Application filed January 10. 1908. Serial No. 410,121.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Eowano G. MUR- moon, citizen of the United States,residing at Greenwood, in the county of Charles Mix and State of SouthDakota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wheels, ofwhich the following is a specification.

My invention relates to vehicles and refers particularly to wagonsdesigned for use on sand roads or where the soil is light or finelypulverized.

Great diflieulty is experienced in traveling through sand with anordinary wagon owing to the tendency of the comparativel narrow tiredwheels to sink to such a depth in the yielding sand as to greatly retardthe progress and as such conditions of the road are frequentlyassociated with tropic heat of the climate, the progress, if any at all,is exceedingly slow. Even when wheels are provided with follies andtires of increased width, there is an increase in the weight without anentire removal of the diliiculty.

The chief objects of the improvements which form the subject matter ofthis application are to provide a greater supportlng area for the wheelsof a wagon than w ll be afforded by the tire alone; to furnish suchsupport without materially increasing the weight, and to supply aneffect- We device for the purpose stated that can lie applied tovehicles of ordinary construcion.

Other objects, stated more in detail, are to provide movable shoes ortracks upon which the wheels travel, to furnish means for shiftmg saidshoes in the line of travel so as to be constantly available assupports, and to supply means for automatically lifting the tracks orshoes free from the ground while being shifted.

I accomplish the above and other im orlant ob ects lay means of theappliance illustrated in the aemmpam'iug drawing which consistsgenerally described, of an ordinary vehicle fiirnishcd with wheelsarranged in pairs the peripheral curved face of one of the pairs icingincomplete in certain por- Hons of the v1rcmn-fi-rom-o the incompleteportions alternating with the ci'mipleto portions of its. companion.trio-lo: or shoes slidahly mounted so as to he engaged bv the vmnplctcportions of the tread ahd released when the incomplete portion isadvanced, provision living made for automatically rcturning the shoeswhen so released.

The drawing described briefly shows one form of construction in thefollowing views Figure 1 is a side elevation of the running gear of awagon, with my im roved wheels and portable track attached t ereto; -Iig. 2 is a top plan view of the forward part of the running gear shownin Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a front elevation; Fig. 4 is a perspective view ofone of the track sections, and Fig. 5 is a side elevation of one sectionof a wheel.

Referring to the details of the drawing to their initial posit-ions thenumeral 10 indicates the axles, 11 the reach, 12 the front hounds and 13the tongue of a wagon, the bed not being shown since it forms no part ofin Y invention.

The ordinary wheels are replaced by others of special form each wheelconstructed in the following manner. A hub ll, of extra. length, ismounted upon the axle and in this hub are inserted in the usual methodtwo sets of spokes 15. Those sets lie in different planes and theindividual spokes in each set are staggered relatively to the companionset, to conserve the strength of the hub. The tread of each wheelsection 16, is formed concentric with the hub in two portions only ofthe circumference, situated diametrically opposite to each other, andsubtending an angle of 90 degrees each, the remaining portions of theare of the circle bein omitted, the follies at these points coinoidinwith the chords of said arcs. 'lhe perip iery of each wheel section istherefore made up of two arcs of a circle 1'? connected by right lines,or, in other words, each wheel section is flattened upon opposite facesto the extent of a quarter circle as shown in Fig. 5. In assembling,however, each flattened or-. tion 18 is opposite the curved portion 1 ofits companion so that the two sections considered together present acomplete concentric tread, as shown in Fig. l.

Beneath each wheel section is located a movable track Ill composed of aplate or plank 20, upon the under side of which is secured a shoe 2]. inthe form of a channel iron. the side flanges 22, projm-ling downward asshown in Fig. 4. Zach track is slidalily suppm'ted by coiled springs 23attached to the upper face of the track and extending vertically togrooved pulleys 24- which travel upon horizontally disposed rods 35fixed in horizontal cross pieces or bars 26. These bars are bolted todepepding brackets 27 attached to some sup ortmg ortion of the wagongearing. In t e case of the rear wheels said brackets are attached tothe reach, the after part 11 of the latter being extended beyond theline of the axle for that purpose. The front supports are connected withthe hounds in order that the rods 25 may retain their parallelism withthe line of travel of the forward wheels I when the front axle isinclined relatively to 1 the rear axle by rotation upon the king bolt.The suspension springs 23 are adjusted as to length so that they willnormally hold the track section 20 just above the ground g surface, buthave sufiicientresiliency to per- 1 mit the section to be depressed tothe road level when engaged by the curved portion of i the tread in amanner to be described.

To the forward end of each track plate is attached a rope or cable 28,which extends 4 forward and then passes about grooved pull leys 29, 30,to change its direction, and is 1 then carried horizontally inward alongthe face of the cross piece 26 and attached to comparatively long coiledsprings 31, secured to the said cross piece at 32. There are two ofthese tracks under each wheel, one for each section 16 of the wheel.Each track is held in initial position against stops 33 by the tensionof the long spring 31. These stops project downward from the cross pieceand consist of rods having a certain degree of elasticity thus acting asbnffcrs to ease the shock of the moving track when released fromengagement with the wheel section, in the manner hereinafter described.When the track section is in said 2 initial position its rear endreaches to a; point just behind a vertical line dropped from the wheelcenter, and the result of this arrangement will be that one section orthe other of each wheel will rest upon its respective track by theengagement of the curved portion 17 of its trend with said track, and asthe vehicle advances that section of the wheel which is so engaged willroll upon the top plate 20 through a quarter of a turn of the wheel, theplate, of course, remaining stationary so long as the weight of thewheel is resting thereon. As soon, however, as the flat portion 18 isreached, the plate will be released, the action of the springs 23 willraise the track clear of the sand, and the spring 31 acting through thecable 28, will propel the track forward until it strikes the stops 33,remaining in this, its initial position, until again an aged by thesucceeding curved portion, an this nlter- 1 note engagement and releasewill continue so long as the wheels are turned by the forward movementof the vehicle, and as each track must at least equal in length that ofthe curved arc of each wheel section, it will be readily understood thata vehicle conmovable track plate located etructed 9n the lines of theone shown in the drawing will constantly have beneath ts tread a firmsup orting surface,equalin in area one half be combined area of al thetrack sections.

While I have shown the wheel sections with the tread divided intoquarters it is eyidcnt that any other number of such divisions may bearranged, and a greater number would be especially advantageous with anymaterial increase in the wheel diameter. I therefore do not wish to belimited to the precise details of construction set forth either in thewheels or other parts of the structure since it is evident that manychanges may be made in the devices of my i invention as herein shownwithout depart in" from the spirit and scope thereof.

What I claim as new is 1. The combination in a vehicle, of sup portingwheels, rims for said wheels, said rims presenting an incomplete treadin all planes cutting the wheel at a right angle to its axis, a pair ofmovable track plates 10- cated beneath each wheel and adapted to bealternately engaged by the tread of said wheel, means for elevating saidtrack plates when released from said engagement, and resilient means forrestoring said plates to their initial positions.

2. The combination in a vehicle, of supporting wheels, rims for saidwheels, said rims presenting an incomplete tread in planes cutting thewheel at a right angle to its axis, a pair of longitudinally slidabletrack plates located beneath each wheel and arranged to be alternatelyengaged by the tread of said wheel, means for elevating said trackplates when released from said engagement, and resilient means forrestoring said plates to their initial positions.

3. In a vehicle, the combination of sup porting wheels, rims for eachwheel formed In sections, lying in separate planes, the tread of eachsection having concentric portions alternating with stral ht portions, abeneath each section and adapted to be'engaged by the concentricportions of its respective rim, means for elevating said plate whenrelease from engagement with the said rim, and resilient means forrestoring said plate to its initial osition.

4. T is combination in a "chiclc, of supporting wheels, a plurality ofincomplete rims for each wheel, said rims lying in separate planes, thecurved portions of each rim corresponding with the incomplete. portionsof the companion rim, a movable track plate located beneath each rim andarranged to be engaged by the curved portion of its res active rim,resilient means for elevating sai plate when released from saidengagement and resilient means for restoring said plate to its initialposition.

5. In a vehicle, the combination with a frame, of supportin wheels havinincomplete rims, the comp ete portions 0 one run alternating with thesimilar portions of the other rims movable track sections suspended bycoiied springs beneath each wheel, cables attached to the track sectionsand traction springs connecting the cables with said frame.

6. In a vehicle, the combination with a frame, of supporting wheels, thetread of each wheel having incomplete portions arranged alternately uponopposite sides of the median plane of the wheel, longitudinal rodsarranged parallel with the wheels, track sections arranged beneath thewheels, pulleys slidably mounted upon said longituuinal rods, springsconnectin the track sections with said pulleys, cab es attached to thetrack sections and traction springs connecting the cables with saidframe.

7. The combination with a vehicle of supporting wheels, each wheelconsisting of a mi), a plurality of incomplete rims, spokes for therims, the incoin lete portions of one run corresponding wit 1 thecomplete portion in the other rim, a track section arranged beneath eachrim, springs suspending said track sections, a cable attached to eachsection and springs connecting the cables with fixed su ports.

In testimony w ereof I atfix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

EDWARD G. MURTAUGI'I.

Witnesses FRANK Tnumno, T. J. I'IAMRY.

